pet mouse hair problem. - Paw Talk

mouseman · #1 04-29-2008, 10:47 PM

about two weeks ago i picked up a black and white mouse, female. a day later i then picked up another two female mice, a suitable cage, bedding, etc. this past weekend (saturday) i cleaned their cage and all the mice looked and where acting fine. just a minute ago i noticed that one of my mice had fur missing on her upperback/shoulders. its missing in a circle maybe a centemeter wide if that. i took her out of the cage and looked at her and shes been acting fine eating running etc the only one unusual thing i noticed today prior to noticing the hair was she started taking a nap in a spot i have never seen any of the mice lay down, one of the other mice was laying with her so i have no idea if this is even relevent.

so i ask, should i be concerned?

Mousey · #2 04-29-2008, 10:57 PM

sometimes mice lose fur due to allergies so you can take peanuts ,corn and sunflower seeds out of her diet if any are there. also what kind of bedding do ou uses? some ice have allergies to wood bedding and pine and cedar are toxic for them. Bt wood bedding can also carry mites and lice (humans cannot get mites or lice that rodents carry tyhey are host specific. ) It can also be a wring worm. But it's hard to say since I am issing some info. But also is any other mice missing fur?

mouseman · #3 04-29-2008, 11:04 PM

the food has peanuts, corn, and sunflower seeds in it, ill take those out to start. it is a wood bedding but its not pine, i was told mice cant live with pine. it very well could be cedar. but i am not sure. what kind of bedding would you reccomend? i have not noticed any missing fur on the other two mice, and i only noticed this one because one of the other mice had its tail over her neck causing me to look in the general area of her neck.

also the spot with the missing fur is a dark pink color almost a purpleish red.

Mousey · #4 04-30-2008, 04:19 PM

Pine and cedar are both very toxic for mice. it can cause respiratory infections that can turn deadly. If you need a cheaper bedding aspen is good. but it can still carry mites and lice so freezing for at least 2 days will take care of that. But I personally liked softsorbent but I use carefresh for my rescue mice (one has allergies). Also paperbased is good for mice as long as it's not very dusty. I have used hemp bedding too and it's pretty much like apsen. But paper based bedding doesn't run some of the bug risks that wood bedding risks. Also mice can get ringworms. Is she itching? Have the mice been together for a while? Also if you take themn and blow on their fur in the opposite direction look for spots or anything. If nothings there then it's prob. not lice. Generally if they itch alot it's food allergies. Make sure it's not getting worse or better and the other mice aren't losing fur. Also mice cab "barber" which is when they over groom until the hairs are pulled out. Some mice do it all their life some do it only during pregnancy and some never do it. Is her ears red?

mouseman · #5 05-04-2008, 10:56 PM

her ears are not red. and i have not noticed her itching any more than i might normaly. her spot seems to be looking a little better, it certainly does not look worse. she has still been eating and drinking and so have the other two mice, but i just today noticed that my original mouse fell asleep in the same spot and same position as the mouse im concerned with(laying flat on its stomach with hind legs back and not under the body). the only reason i bring it up is because i remember seeing my frieds mouse lie like that on the day it died.

pinkie1205 · #6 05-05-2008, 01:03 AM

Honestly if you are so concerned then maybe a vet visit in in order.

Mice usually lose their hair to allergies, parasites or barbaring.

Even IF they have a parasite (like mites) you won't be able to see them, sometimes only one mouse out of the pack will be affected. Mites and lice can be tricky things and only affect one animal that YOU can see. Essentially they affect all of them but it seems like one will get it the most.

There might be a dominance issue which could be causing barbaring. Female WILL show dominance within their habitat so that is something to think about.

Have you changed the litter and cleaned everything? It might just be an allergy. If you only have a wood bedding that could be a cause. A lot of animals show sensitivity to wood bedding.

mouseman · #7 05-07-2008, 10:25 PM

the mouse with the hairloss would be the one to show dominance i would asume, she is the biggest of the three mice. and i completely clean the cage fairly regularly, ill be cleaning it sometime soon again this week and will be getting a new kind of bedding to see if they helps.

if i notice anything worsen with any of the mice i will make a call to the vet.

mouseman · #8 05-10-2008, 09:27 PM

her hair has started to grow back and is nice an even completely covering her skin, i changed their wood bedding and added a few things to their cage.

thank you for all your help, i noticed while i was shopping for bedding food that alot of bedding for them is pine and cedar and almost all the food has either peanuts corn or sunflower seeds, if i hadent gtten your help i would have purchased pine or cedar im sure of it.

thanks again